I have a 95 John Deere 540E skidder and I would like to know how many hours do you go before changing the engine oil, I just did mine with 5/40 synthetic.
I go 250hr between oil changes
The old 250 hr interval was for conventional oils in older machines, some of the newer machines recommend 500 hr intervals with conventional oils. To be safe i would ask your local John Deere dealer what they would recommend, i have heard of some fellas pushing 1000 hrs on synthetic oils but i think that is really pushing your luck.
On my tractor I use for logging I go every 100 hrs.
150hrs ,oil is still cheaper than a motor
250 hours is normal for oil changes then the 1000 hours for all fluids and filters
I'd say check with John Deere, some engines you can run a lot of hours with synthetic. Really, you have to get those extra hours to make it pay to use synthetic when it costs at least twice as much.
If you went with synthetic, put in a bypass oil filter. They really extend oil life, and engine life. Then get on a oil sampling program if you want to know what is really happening in your engine.
Stonebroke
oil and grease are relatively cheap. We used to change oil and filters every 100 hrs, and grease every day. I for one have never been one to give too much credence to the dealer, or manufacturer, as they are the ones to benefit from early retirement of parts and components due to wear, and insufficient preventative maintenance! Maybe it's a bit cynical of me to think in this fashion, but preventative maintenance is much cheaper in the long run than mandatory maintenance, and repairs.
I agree with Mad Murdock, I work for a dealer (cars & truck) and our new car oil changes are now 5000 - 7500 miles. Not for me, our service advisers tote it as a cost saving method, I'm old school and call it crazy talk, I change my car oil every 3K and call it good. It takes a long while to wear out a drain plug from changing oil frequently, compared to what happens when you wait too long.
Matt
I like the K.I.S.S theory on maintanence - Keep it simple stupid (stupid is me in most instances)
It still looks dirty to me at 3000 miles, thats when I change it. However, my grandad would go 7000-8000 miles on a ford ranger he had, that thing still made it 300,000 miles plus.
I'm running semi-synthetic oil in my JD 440B with a rebuilt motor. At 100 and 200 hours it gets a new filter and at 300 hours a filter and fresh oil. It doesn't take long to get 100 hours on it. The part I hate about draining it isn't using more oil, it's the hassle of lying on the ground in mud and snow and reaching up through the belly pan with my ratchet and then getting oil down my arm. If the drain plug was more accesible I might drain it more often.
Our oils are so much better now than back in the good old days that they last much longer in the engine. Most oil now gets dirty before it gets worn out and broken down. If your engine is running well and you are using good oil you can just change the filter every 100 hours and drain it only every 300 to 500 hours.
Hey Frickman, could you safely extend the hole down closer to the belly armor, by putting in a piece of pipe? though you would have to cut the correct threads onto the pipe to match the engine, could be done though. On some of our equipment, (talking helicopters now), we put quick drain valves on the reservoir, because on some aircraft you change oil every 50 hours. Makes the whole process much easier. When the valve is in the closed position, we wire it so it cannot accidentally be knocked open, something that could be duplicated on a skidder. This just got me thinking about my own skidder, I think that I will figure out a quick drain valve setup to put on mine, and on the bottom of the valve I will put a fitting that I can slip a piece of clear PVC hose onto, to direct oil flow into a bucket without a mess. I'll let you know how it works.
Mad Murdock,
That would be a good idea, except that it would be too easy to get knocked off.
on my machine, I would keep everything above the bottom skid-pan, there is an access hole large enough to get my hand into to open a valve.
my cat skidder had a "enviromental drain" for the motor. It was a valve with the handle removed and a length of hose attached, worked great. There is an after market on for cummins I know, the jd dealer might have a kit for that motor. I had hydraulic hoses made up for the gears box and winch drains on my tj (took out the drain plugs and screwed the hose into the case and just have the plug on the other end.) these are all npt though and most engines are not. Makes changing oil bearable..
I put in one of those oil drain valves for semi's in the pan on my 440, with a short length of hose that drops it to about a inch lower than the belly pans so the hose just sticks out the oil drain hole.. Though I used to drop the belly pan to change the oil.. only takes a couple minutes on the 440